The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) will start issuing decisions on claims relating to misleading financial advice provided to London Capital & Finance (LCF) clients by the end of May 2020.
The lifeboat scheme said it has completed its analysis of all the information it was able to gather –totalling around a million data points – and has started reviewing individual claims.
In February 2020, it confirmed that only 159 victims were eligible to receive compensation, as they switched from stocks & shares Isas to LCF bonds – but they represent just 1.3% of the 11,600 victims that lost £237m ($295m, €270m) in the LCF mis-selling scandal.
The wait continues
But it is going to be a lengthy process, which the FSCS expects to be completed by the end of September 2020.
All claimants will receive a letter on the outcome of their case.
Caroline Rainbird, chief executive at the FSCS, said: “Having spent time reviewing all of the information we have gathered, I am pleased that we are now in a position to look at individual claims and will start to issue decisions on those claims this month, thereby providing some certainty for LCF customers.
“We appreciate that this process has been a lengthy one, and that for many LCF customers the wait is not yet over.
“We want to reassure LCF customers that we are continuing to work tirelessly to bring this process to a conclusion and ensure that those customers who are entitled to compensation receive it.”
But the lifeboat scheme said it expects that a large proportion of LCF bondholders will not be entitled to compensation.
In the meantime, the victims have been fundraising to sue the FSCS.
